Late goal helps Coyotes avoid shutout
The Coyotes’ Alex Kerfoot scored on a power play with 3:04 remaining Saturday night to spoil Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev’s shutout bid in a 4-1 Colorado win in Denver before the NHL shut down for a three-day holiday break.
The same teams will play again on Wednesday in Tempe.
Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to 18 games with an assist as the Avalanche snapped the Coyotes’ four-game win streak.
“They are the measuring-stick team in our division,” said Kerfoot, who played two seasons with Colorado. “If we want to be a team who competes for playoff spots, these are the types of teams that we need to bring our best efforts against.”
The Avalanche (21-11-2), who won the Stanley Cup two years ago, are tied with Dallas with 44 points atop the Central Division. Arizona (17-14-2) sits eight points back in fifth place.
Bowen Byram opened the scoring in the first period before Colorado pulled away in the second behind goals from Valeri Nichushkin, Josh Manson and Fredrik Olofsson. Georgiev stopped 24 shots.
“The second period is a template of how we should and want to play,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, whose team has won three of four. ”Might have been our most complete period of the year.”
MacKinnon’s 18-game point streak is the secondlongest for Colorado since the franchise relocated from Quebec to Denver in 1995-96. He trails only Paul Stastny, who compiled a 20-game run in 2006-07.
It was also MacKinnon’s 25th point in December. He’s three away from matching the franchise record
for a single month set by Peter Stastny in February 1981. Colorado still has three games left this month.
Coyotes defenseman J.J. Moser took a hard hit from Miles Wood in the second period and didn’t return due to an upper-body injury. Arizona coach André Tourigny had no update after the game.
“I think there were a few incidents without the puck, which I didn’t like,” Tourigny said of the physical play, which included a fight between Wood and Lawson Crouse. “But at the end of the day, I don’t think they’re predators on the other side. I think they play hard. They’re a hard-working team. I have a ton of respect for them.
“For us, if we didn’t like it, we just have to push back out there. It’s not after the game making comments about it. If you don’t like it, you need to do it during the game.”